Digital piracy costs Ireland €320m

By Colin Mann

May 11, 2016

A report by business advisory firm Grant Thornton estimates that digital piracy has caused the loss of 500 jobs to the Irish economy by 2015. The estimated cost to the economy shows retailers suffered losses of circa €320 million in revenues, while the loss to the Exchequer in VAT receipts could be as much as €71 million as a result of digital piracy.

The report, Illicit Trade 2015-2016: Implications for the Irish economy, measures the cost to the Exchequer at €788 million and right holders at €1.5 billion across a range of sectors including fuel, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, digital and alcohol. Illicit trade is costing the Irish economy €2.3 billion every year.

Brendan Foster, Partner at Grant Thornton, said, “The level of illicit activity reported is quite remarkable. While we welcome the increased efforts to improve legislation and enforcement activity over the past few years, it is vital that all sectors impacted continue to invest in public awareness campaigns to remind consumers that illicit activity is far from being a victimless crime.”

“As leading advisers to the Irish film and media industry, we are concerned that the extent of illegal downloading of content continues to impact the industry heavily and outdated legislation and enforcement activity does little to protect the sector,” he added.

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